Chapter Text
What if they don’t like me? What if I don’t like them? What if Janey likes them more than me? What if they’re corporate spies just pretending to be vault hunters? Is she even really a siren? Oh god, what if they invite-
“Hey. Knock that off, love.” Janey’s voice and the touch of her hand snapped Athena back to reality. She looked down at where Janey’s hand was placed firmly on top of her own, stopping her movements. It was only then she realised she had been scratching and peeling off the label of the beer bottle she was holding. Janey stroked the back of her hand with her thumb. “It’s alright, cutie. I know you’re nervous.”
Athena scoffed.
“I am not nervous. I just, uh… This brand sucks. I don’t want anyone to know I drink it.” She balled up the chunk of the label she had torn off and flicked it off to the side. Janey rolled her eyes. “I said it’s alright. I’m nervous too, actually. Haven’t really had that much alone time with the new vault hunters.”
“No? Consider yourself lucky.”
“Athena, you can’t possibly still be angry about the Maliwan stake out, that was two whole months ago!”
“Eight hours. Eight entire hours alone with Zane.”
“Not entirely alone, actually, I seem to remember he brought out his clone and-”
"Yeah. He did. That was so much worse.” Athena stared off into the distance, stony faced. “So much worse.”
Janey squeezed Athena’s hand with a not-so-well-hidden smile. Athena paused for a second and moved her other hand to place it on top of Janey’s. She idly played with Janey’s favourite bracelet, watching as the neon lights within the bar hit the glass beads, so that they shone bright pink and orange.
“But…” Athena eventually sighed “From what I’ve seen of Amara and Moze, they seem… really nice, actually. Besides, I trust you, so if you think this is going to be fun then I am… leaning into it.”
“Aw, my love… how’s about you lean into this?” Janey placed a soft yet calloused hand on Athena’s cheek and placed a loving kiss on Athena’s lips. Athena obeyed her wife and leaned into it, bringing her hand up and placing it on the back of Janey’s neck. The gesture made Janey melt under Athena’s touch, Athena smiling against her lips when she let out a small noise of pleasure.
The sound of someone clearing their throat had both of them snapping their attention towards the noise.
Right beside their table stood Moxxi, Amara, and Moze. All three of the women had the same smug knowing look on their faces. Janey simply laughed, while Athena slumped down in her chair, pulling her scarf up to cover her face. “Sorry, are we interrupting something?” Amara spoke, her voice light and amused.
“Yeah, we can come back when you’re done.” Moze added with a grin, her grin only spreading wider when Amara nudged her affectionately.
Moxxi just rolled her eyes. “Would you two fine ladies like to sit down so that I can take your order? Just got a new snacks menu, although I think we can all agree I’m the finest snack in this place.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Amara and Janey spoke at once, both gesturing enthusiastically at their partners. Amara winked at Moxxi with a finger gun to boot. Athena slumped down even further.
Moze looked over at the gladiator and clicked her tongue sympathetically. “Not into the whole PDA thing, huh, Athena?”
“I don’t hate it.” Athena said slowly. “I’m just… not used to this.”
“Not used to what?” It was Amara who spoke this time, leaning on her hand and listening intently. Janey placed a tentative hand on Athena’s shoulder, attempting to signal to her wife that she would remove it at once if Athena showed any signs of discomfort. Athena relaxed into it and spoke again. “I’ve done almost nothing but assassin-for-hire work my whole life. Socialising is new to me, and so was love when Janey came into my life. I like both. I just need time to get acquainted.”
“We’ve got the rest of our lives.” Janey said softly, unable to stop herself from leaning in and kissing Athena’s cheek. Athena simply smiled and closed her eyes to enjoy the moment.
“That’s a sweet sentiment, but I have other customers.” Moxxi said, although she didn’t seem too annoyed. “Do y’all-” She cleared her throat once again. “Do you all know what you want?
“Ooh, nachos! A big plate of nachos, please, doll.” Moze announced.
Amara nodded approvingly and added “And wings! The spiciest wings you got. And two Moxxtails. Surprise us, we’re not picky.”
“Make that four Moxxtails,” Janey piped up “And a bloomin’ onion! Anything else, Athena?”
Athena thought for a second then smiled wide.
“Mac and cheese, thanks. Also, what are ‘waffle fries’?” Janey, Amara and Moze all chimed in with an ‘aww’ at the same time. Athena glared at them, although there was no real heat behind it. Moxxi finished noting down their order on her Echo device and smiled at Athena. “Tell you what, I’ll just throw some waffle fries in for free since you’re already ordering so much.” She took their menus and hurried back behind the bar.
“Love ya, Moxx!” Janey called after her.
“Can I just say, without makin’ it weird-” Moze began “- It’s an honor to meet both of you. I mean, we’ve all heard the stories about you. Athena, you were there for the rise and fall of Handsome Jack, then you went on to train Fiona in the art of bein’ a Vault Hunter. Janey, you built a freakin’ spaceship! The spaceship that carried the team responsible for the fall of Helios. I mean, man, you’re both… You’re kind of our heroes?” Moze had stars in her eyes, glancing sideways at Amara who simply nodded. Janey and Athena flushed, the two of them stumbling over their words until Janey managed to thank them. “Plus,” Amara added “It’s… really nice to know another lesbian couple. Especially a married one.”
Moze nodded in agreement, “Yeah, we wish we could’ve been at the wedding. It’s a damn shame we didn’t know each other back then.”
“So it is,” Janey replied “It sucks that we missed out on so many years of knowing ya both, but life has a way of patching things up, eh?”
“She’s right. We’re just as honored to meet you two, and I’m really looking forward to pounding some Moxxtails.” Athena added with a demure smile. Janey wrapped an arm around her and giggled. “That’s the spirit, my love!”
The four of them bantered for the next twenty minutes, each of them surprised at how quickly and naturally conversation seemed to come to them. It felt like they were old friends, simply picking up a conversation from where it left off. Amara drummed the table and the other three cheered as Moxxi approached the table carrying two large trays of food, plus the four Moxxtails. Amara scrambled up to assist Moxxi in arranging the plates across the table so that they had their own mini buffet, and then paused to stare at the Moxxtails. The other three did the same, eyes widening. Moze was the first to speak. “Holy shit. What, is this a new recipe?”
“Yup. Just a little somethin’-somethin’ I had my girl whip up.” Moxxi crooned proudly, setting a cocktail down in front of each of them. The four women stared at their fluorescent drinks, glowing powerfully enough to illuminate their faces. Moxxi lowered her trays thankfully and bowed at them. “Bon appetit, sweeties. Come back to the bar when you need a refill.” Amara was already stuffing her face appreciatively with hot wings. Janey shrugged and joined her, instead pulling the blooming onion closer and guarding it with her arms protectively. Moze and Athena remained transfixed by their drinks.
Athena’s was a deep yet electric blue, swirling and revealing traces of silver glittery, looking like a night sky. She took a sip and tasted chocolate and a hint of spice. It was just the right amount of sweet, with a kick to it. She took another sip happily, enjoying the way Janey was watching her out of the corner of her eye. Janey’s cocktail was bright pink, unsurprisingly, with a small umbrella in it. As she picked it up to take a drink, the umbrella floated out of the glass and into her hair. She paused and blinked, wondering if she had gotten drunk simply from being around her drink. Perhaps whatever Moxxi put into the drink was radioactive. However, she glanced around and saw her wife and two new friends staring at her in wonder, so it was safe to say they’d seen it too. She shrugged, satisfied, and took a drink. Her Moxxtail was very sweet, and strongly peach flavoured. Janey loved fruit, however, so she savoured every drop. Amara’s cocktail was, predictably, purple. It had an airy lavender scent to it and seemed to change colour as she idly moved her glass around. It looked at first glance as though it had ice cubes in it, but when Amara took a drink and then neatly spat the small shapes back into the glass it was made clear that they were in fact large pearls. “I have to wonder where she got these.” Amara pondered, looking over the coveted pearls in awe. Moze picked one up between her thumb and forefinger, inspecting it. “It’s a little hunk of eridium, painted.” She finally spoke with confidence, flicking the pearl back into Amara’s glass. Amara smiled and pocketed them, already planning to use them to mess with Marcus another day.
Moze’s cocktail was a deep red, glinting with orange where the light hit it. She drank it all at once, placing the glass down firmly as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. The other three looked at her expectantly. She blinked at them for a few seconds before she burped and a small burst of fire shot out of her mouth. Amara clapped her on the back and laughed as though it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. Janey couldn’t help laughing along and even Athena began snorting at the ridiculousness of the situation.
The four shared their baskets of food companionably, bantering between themselves about vaults and vehicles and friends old and new. Moze had just finished sharing a raunchy story about that one time at The Purple Skag when Amara coughed loudly, startling Janey enough that she dropped her waffle fry onto the floor. Janey leaned back and crossed her arms, pouting ever so slightly. “What is it, ‘Mara?” she asked, as Amara was directing a thousand yard stare at something behind them. Janey and Athena turned at once, bumping their heads awkwardly, as Moze gasped and clapped her hands.
On the stage at the side of the room, previously unnoticed by all four of them, but now bathed in a sultry pink spotlight… was a karaoke machine.